Modular frame technology allows the construction of residential houses in the shortest time at a relatively low material consumption. We will look at typical instruction on construction with lightweight thermal profile and structural insulated panels.

Houses made of metal and SIP are pre-fabricated buildings. The reliability of this technology is not in question, but only if they meet two key rules.

First, prior to the construction of the entire complex of design and survey activities is made, drawing up specifications, detailed drawings, plans and sections of the building, describes how to build. This is the most difficult stage: largely due to lack of technical and regulatory documentation, you can be guided only by Eurocode EN 1993-1-3, describing work with pre-fabricated steel structures.

Second, in the assembly process whole list of technical requirements is made, the work is done by qualified personnel. We look at the key moments of the construction on the basis of LSTC, which will help to keep a detailed control over the actions of contractors or quickly to navigate in the industry rules, if the work is being done on their own.

Among all the types of foundations in the context of pre-fabricated steel structures we should seriously consider only three of them.

First – pile-and-crib work foundation, which has an ideal ratio of material consumption and load capacity. LSTC buildings is lightweight, even on weak and unstable soils, they show a good integrity and seismic resistance.

The main problem is reduced to the supporting piles in dense layer below the freezing depth. Usually, piles drilling depth isn’t less than 1.8-2.5 m. Grillage is performed with two reinforcement layers of protective lines at 35 mm. With angular anchering mortgages for rigid connection to the foundation with the chassis are added to the fixture.

A second suitable type is MZLF. It makes sense to organize, if necessary, the organization of the basement or underground garage. Casting Technology basement monolithic design is quite standard, in order to save materials foundations are casted with a cascading section or operate expansion at the bottom.

The third recommended by the foundation under the house on a metal frame serves as UWB. Its design is also quite standard, but the Swedish stove is justified only in the construction of passive houses. Another argument in favor of the warmed plates may be willing to arrange a warm floor system. Because of the small thickness and, consequently, low heat capacity of the plate, it is recommended to arrange heating by jet pipes.

The device is simple enough overlap. The main load with a small length of the I-beam spans perceive or thermo trough. At considerable length spans are replaced on a two-zone portal farm.

The space between the beams is filled mineral-cotton insulation after fixing hem profile and mounting of the rough ceiling. Then on the floor of the upper floor plank steel sheet, on which polystyrene screed is performed with light concrete polymer reinforcement.

Roofing system follows the same type as the wood construction. Rafters are collected from the rack or double-T thermal profile, crate perform by hatter profile section. It is important to make a reservation: in the construction of MK and LSTC can be combined with auxiliary elements of thermal profile should be based on a ponderous system, but not vice versa.

Casing frame made of metal is carried out predominantly structurally insulated panels. At the same time frame cavities provide an opportunity to arrange an additional layer of insulation, which is often performed by ecowool.

The problem of medical errors is one of the most important areas in medical law. The number of medical errors, unfortunately, is growing with years. For example, in the US, the number of victims of medical errors annually varies from 40 to 87 thousand people. In this regard medical errors kill less people than AIDS. By the most conservative estimates, the economic damage caused by medical mistakes each year in the United States is equivalent to the state budget of an average European economy. Thus, in the jurisprudence more and more medical malpractice cases are started (criminal and civil ones). Medical personnel is attracted to criminal liability, and medical clinics are suffering huge losses in the form of payments as compensation for non-pecuniary damage and harm caused to a patient. But in this chain a number of other organisations is also involved – insurance companies and pharmaceutical firms. The first ones are required to pay large sums to patients and then placing recourse action of medical institutions, which can be a beginning of the end for the medical facilities. Pharmaceutical companies, in turn, can also be held liable, for example in case of delivery of substandard pharmaceuticals.

From all this it follows that it is necessary to answer two important questions. The first one: what medical error? The second question is more complicated: which medical errors entail increased responsibility for the doctor, and which ones do not imply any increased responsibilities for the doctor? Defining a medical error is not a simple task. Plenty of literature offers a point of view that if a doctor has committed a medical error, there are already grounds for bringing, for example, a physician, to criminal liability. However, this may be a fundamentally wrong approach, compounded by the fact that, as a rule, the investigator and preliminary investigator, do not delve into the intricacies of medical practice, medical ethics and do not analyse the jurisprudence of this category of cases.

The fact is that so far neither the majority of medical nor law schools teach the fundamental courses of the application of medical law. All this leads to an incorrect legal qualification of acts, so judging the case on medical errors (especially criminal) is a tricky and a complicated process. The situation is sometimes corrected in the presence of legal counsel, having proper practice, for example, in the US, the UK and Germany there are law firms, employing lawyers specialising exclusively on medical and pharmaceutical law. According to SolicitorsGuru, one of the fastest growing legal services aggregators in the UK, there are 1753 results on medical negligence solicitors – a quite modest number for the country with 64ml. population and increasingly alarming tendencies of growth in the number of new cases (+5.6% in 2013 in comparison with the previous one). As we see, keeping in mind the increasing number of court approvals (just 37% of claims resolved without any damages paid), in practice the cases where medical personnel errors are justified are not that huge in percentage ratio.

Plasterboard can be used in internally: in basements, attics or kitchens, as well as externally: in exterior walls, roofs, facades and etc. There’s a decent selection of options to choose from: latex, acrylic and even cement, each of them has its own degree of water protection, while the most innovative eco-friendly solutions, like Britannia’s exterior wall coatings even protect ensure absolute safety for residents. Using paints for finishing and repair work requires surface preparation prior to painting, aiming at masking defects of existing practically impossible. In any case, the coating wall paint is one of the most cost-effective finishing techniques.

One of the most popular options for the internal walls painting is latex-based, water-resistant paint. It leaves no odor, protects the surface from moisture, has a high vapor permeability, forms a strong flexible coating, tinting easily and dries quickly. The coating, which can be obtained using this dye can be matte, glossy and satin-matt.

Moisture-proof paint can be applied on concrete, plaster, wood, wallpaper and other surfaces, it hides cracks up to 1 mm well and provides dirt-resistant qualities. You may also want to consider antibacterial protection paints – the materials are gaining momentum in the recent years. Waterproof latex coating is resistant to abrasion and can withstand even brushing with a soft bristle brush. (more…)

Plasma-chemical technology is primarily used for the processing of highly liquid and gaseous wastes. Thus, it is not only about hazardous waste disposal, but about the production of valuable commercial products. The process is carried out in the plasma torch by electric arc energy at a temperature above 3,000 – 4,000°C. At this temperature, oxygen, and any waste are cleaved to electrons, ions and radicals. The degree of decomposition of toxic waste reaches 99.9995%, and in some cases it rises up to 99,99998%. High energy costs and the complexity of the problems associated with plasma-chemical technology determine its application to processing only those waste types disposal of which does not meet environmental requirements.

The prospective application of a plasma method is processing waste in a reducing atmosphere to produce valuable commodity products. In modern economies the technology of pyrolysis of liquid organochlorine waste and reducing the low-temperature plasma, allowing to obtain acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen chloride and products based on them are added to the arsenal. Such companies as Simdean, a seasoned manufacturer focusing on innovative plasma waste disposal and industrial waste disposal methods, has launched the mass production of such plasma stations. According to the the company’s report published on September, 25 in 2014, the cost-effectiveness of the method is confirmed during the 2nd or 3rd year of utilisation, despite the huge investments needed for installation or modernisation of an enterprise (eco-friendliness and meeting certain standards plays a vital role here – this is where economical preferences matter). (more…)

In Europe, unlike Japan and the United States, creators meet more stringent requirements when it comes to software creation. So if the program or app brings a ‘technical contribution’ (controlled robot, optimisation of internal operations through integrating more efficient processes, etc.), then it can be the reason to obtain a patent, but if the program is designed for general application (‘non-technical program’), for example, if software carries out simple texts processing, the patents are not issued. ‘The cases are many, in some situations you are balancing between the two mediums’, a Manchester University UMIP branch (focused on intellectual property aspects) representative says.

Although the European Patent Office was originally based on the same principles as the Office of the UK Intellectual Property Rights, in recent years it is increasingly not grant patents on technical programs. In this regard, experts recommend that adhere to the British Office of their policies, and to try to convince our European colleagues to abandon the patenting of non-technical programs.

For the same reasons, patents are not granted on a variety of ‘business methods’ (such as marketing and pricing schemes); in Europe this form of patenting is not practised, although the in the United States the opposite approach is dominating.

Impact of duties on patent behavior

Technical progress is expanding the horisons of inventors and manufacturers of equipment, but at the same time confronts them with new challenges. That’s what happened with Orseal, a prominent UK-based manufacturer of ball valves and high-tech industrial industrial ball valves. The fact is that the principle of operation of the ball valve is not new – the history of this unit goes back to almost a hundred of years.

So how does the design of an item that does not lose its relevance for so long look like? The body of the ball valve represents, in fact, the pipe included in the pipeline infrastructure. Inside the housing there’s a locking element of spherical shape, rotatable up to 90°. The axis of the spherical lock has a through-hole; in most models, its diameter coincides with the diameter of the body (the so-called full bore valve). Ball valve or tube, surrounded by the sealing seats (ring), creating leaks and ensure smooth rotation of the ball. Operation mechanism of a ball valve can be either manual (in the simplest units) and automated. In the first case, a handle, in the second – the electric drive.

This simple design makes a good seal and minimum hydraulic losses, which is very important when transporting oil, gas and other hazardous industries. But the first ball valves could not boast of any of the absolute density of the closing passage, nor easy management. And only in recent years, after the advent of modern materials such as synthetic rubber and fluoropolymers it became possible to raise the production of ball valves to a new level.

The advantages of ball valves

Constructive simplicity and principle of operation is based on the basic physical laws, minimizing the likelihood of irregularities in the operation of the device. The system operates smoothly, because all the processes are coordinated and do not imply the possibility of failures.

The high degree of tightness of stop and control valves. Ball tube is attached to the O-rings. The pipe diameter of 200 mm is sufficient for creating a pressure inside the faucet. Ball valves 200 mm diameter include not only support, but also protrusion to minimise energy costs.

The compact size of the ball valve allows it to be deployed in urban piping network water and gas. If you want to reduce the size of still and/or torque control valve, you can order and install the so-called tapered ball valve.

Minimum hydraulic losses. In the fully open position tap liquid medium flows therethrough in the same way as through any other part of the pipeline. This means that the energy density is practically not lost due to friction.

Management of small diameter ball valve can be manual or automated. Large industrial ball valves are controlled by an electric pneumatic and / or hydraulic drive, including using the fluid as control medium.

Rotating locking stopper of 90° or less occurs rapidly and smoothly, due to plastic materials from which O-rings are made of. The hole passes ball plugs liquids and gases without the formation of breakout and/or stagnation zones.

These valuable properties allow the use of ball valves is in contrast to other types of valves, during transportation of specific environments and products, including contaminated, viscous, heterogeneous, consisting of two or more phases.

Lime is a very important material that is largely used in the construction and repair industries. Lime is oftentimes added to various surface treatment solutions (e.g. whitewashing or restoration). The structure of this material consists mainly of calcium oxide. In case lime is used to whitewash or knead some solution, it would be required to slak it. Hydrated lime is obtained from the lump. Slaking means pouring the water and kneading it until it gets smooth. Lime is oftentimes classified into quick (the process takes up to eight minutes), moderate (the process takes up to 25 minutes) and slow (the process takes more than 30 minutes) types.

There are a few binders which relate to the hydraulic lime group. Lime itself represents a binder, which is used for the preparation of various solutions and widely used during the repair or construction works. Lime can be be lump or ground. For slaking ground lump is used as the hardening of this material takes place in the air after treatment with water. Slaked lime or hydrated lime is often added to the dry mixture to ensure protection from various pests. If lime is slaked in dough, it can be stored in for a very long time, and the quality of this dough gets even better.

The process of slaking

The process of clearing should be carried out in the open, ventilated place. To make powder lime, it is necessary to take a ton of lime hundred liters of water. If you use either pits or boxes, it is necessary to adjust the amount of materials beforehand. However, the process of getting hydrated lime takes different amounts of time – depending on how slaking occurs.

Hydrated lime application

The properties of hydrated lime are so extensive, that it has been applied in many areas, such as:

Whitewashing

Protection from decay and of wooden fences and rafters.

Preparation of mortars.

Preparation of silicate concrete.

Mitigation of water – to remove carbonate hardness.

Production of bleach.

Production of lime fertiliser.

Formation of various compounds of calcium as well as for neutralising acid solutions, organic acids, etc.

Production of E526 food additive.

For the preparation of the lime water – solution of calcium hydroxide, which is used to detect carbon dioxide.

Preparation of lime milk to be used for the preparation of sugar and cooking.

Slaked lime and lime putty

Lump lime is a crude product which, after quenching, is used in a mixture of hydrated lime or test. Hydrated lime mixture is obtained after quenching quicklime with certain amount of waters, whereupon the mixture becomes a liquid, as the oxides of calcium and magnesium transferred into hydrates. Lime paste is obtained from slaked lime and a small amount of water, after which it turns in doughy mass.

In the manufacture of hydrated lime and lime putty water is used. In both cases manipulation of the lime must be slaked – processed with water to the collapse occurred pieces of lime. Thus, the smaller decay pieces are, the more valuable the final product is.

The presence of metals and their alloys in even hundredths and even thousandths of a percent gases and non-metallic impurities significantly reduces their strength and ductility. To purify metal from unwanted impurities gases, oxides, nitrides, and other non-metallic inclusions a set of technological operations that can be combined under the term of refining is developed. The process of refining is an absolutely vital part of improving the quality of metals and alloys.

Purification of the liquid metal from non-metallic inclusions is to separate the melt surface tiny gas bubbles and particles of oxides, nitrides, sulfides, and other compounds which normally remain in the melt and fall into an ingot. In recent years, combined methods for refining are gaining momentum – physical and adsorptive methods are meant. Absorptive refining method implies introducing inert or reactive gases into the melt to have impurities decomposed into gaseous products. Due to the low pressure gas within these bubbles is diffused in the dissolved metal hydrogen, nitrogen, and other gases and bubbles are adsorbed on the surface of the solid particles of nonmetallic inclusions. After achieving considerable size bubbles refining agents resurfacing molten metal. For sufficiently complete removal of non-metallic inclusions from the melt must pass through metal refining a large number of substances, which is not always appropriate and feasible.

The power of ultrasound

The use of ultrasound for the impact of a number of processes in the preparation and processing of metals and alloys is sufficiently well known and theoretically justified. Currently, ultrasonic methods of influencing interfacial surface metals in the liquid and solid state have acquired significant commercial importance due to the industry innovators like Hilsonic, providing a range of cost-effective ultrasonic cleaner equipment.

A significant number of published studies on the effects of ultrasound on metal melts demonstrates that ultrasound treatment is one of the most promising ways to regulate properties of the solid. These works consider mainly the possibility of using ultrasound during solidification of the melt. However, implementation of this method in the method of manufacturing products directly from the melt prevents a number of circumstances. Additionally, scoring to complete crystallization requires input of ultrasonic vibrations directly into the molded part, but this is not always feasible.

The most reasonable and promising way to improve the properties and structure of the products is the ultrasonic treatment of the liquid metal. Ultrasonic treatment of steels and other alloys studied to a lesser extent. One reason for the lack of studies of the effect of the ultrasonic field at the molten steel is the lack of reliable and efficient devices operating at high temperatures, as well as methods for administering ultrasound directly in the liquid metal.

Online marketing offers numerous ways to squeeze the most of your business. But to use them efficiently you need to be aware of the fundamentals – the topic that we’ll focus on today. The article is sponsored by our fellow marketing gurus – HTP Digital, a savvy digital marketing Manchester firm with years of experience under the belt.

Search engine optimization and promotion

SEO gathers every effort aimed at promotion of the site in search engines for the needs of interest to your business. First of all, the optimisation of the site – the adjustment of its structure, HTML-code navigation and content in a way that the resource is the most convenient and informative for visitors, and well indexed by search engines. Actually promotion is to increase the external reference weight and the regular analysis and review of the key queries that the optimization. From the point of view of efficiency of SEO – a reasonable price in financial terms, it gives lasting and stable effect, but also requires a lot of time and effort.

Contextual advertising

A special type of ads that appear with search results (or above) when you type the corresponding keyword and at websites in ad spaces. Contextual advertising can also be used with the involvement of other areas with relatively high attendance. The main point here is that you can really fine-tune the display of your ad on several parameters: the keywords, the region, the time of day and days of the week. Thus, contextual advertising is ideal in case you need to reach a well-defined audience, and for a certain period. Unlike SEO, contextual advertising can be started very quickly, it is precisely controlled (including – the terms of cost), but terminates immediately after shutdown. This activity is recommended to be evenly distributed to fit in the budget range of content production and search promotion. (more…)